I started writing bids at the age of 26 for a company called Sema Group. It was a baptism of fire: British Rail had just been privatised and the new Train Operating Companies were releasing a raft of tenders for IT products and services.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1. It Is the Most Ancient of Trades: The Art of the Storyteller.<\/span><\/b> Your role is to weave together disparate elements to craft a compelling, persuasive, and thrilling narrative. One that captures your audience and makes them want more.\u00a0 You are so much more than an \u2018answerer of questions\u2019. (But you\u2019re that, too!)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 <\/span><\/b>No Bid Writer Is an Island: (Unless You\u2019re a One-Person Micro-SME).<\/span><\/b> Bidding is a team sport, and the captain of the team is always\u2014always\u2014the salesperson. They know your audience best, or they should. They understand the client’s requirements, or they should. They know because they have already influenced how the Invitation to Tender (ITT) has been crafted, or at least they should have. If your salesperson knows none of this, your role is likely a futile one. Spend as much time with your sales leads as possible; ultimately, it is their story you are writing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Measure Twice, Cut Once: <\/span><\/b>In a time-pressured bid environment, there is a natural tendency to want to start writing as quickly as possible – and there may be some questions that can be polished off quickly (e.g., \u2018What is your approach to data security?\u2019). But the most important and highest-scoring questions, those that lie at the heart of your story (e.g., \u2018Describe your Service Delivery Model\u2019, \u2018Describe your User Journey\u2019), require your expertise more than any other. With or without word limitations, there is no room for waffle. You need crystal clarity on your solution before putting pen to paper. Half-baked solutions show through in fluffy answers. Demand clarity before you start writing. The Solution Lead is your second-best friend (see point 2 above).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 4. Your Story Has to Be Better Than Someone Else\u2019s Story, Otherwise It Won\u2019t Win.<\/span><\/b> Carefully crafted, precise win themes, points of difference, killer evidence\u2014all these will lift your story and make you stand out. But it\u2019s not your job as the bid writer to come up with these. The sales lead should have been able to articulate ‘why we will win’ when they took the deal through qualification. Your job is to ensure these points flow through the narrative like a golden thread through cloth.<\/span> Be aware though, and despite any leadership statements to the contrary, the following are absolutely, categorically, and most definitely NOT win themes or differentiators:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n These are lazy platitudes and should be treated with the contempt they deserve.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 5. Despite Point 2 Above, Bid Writing is Often Lonely Work.<\/span><\/b> While it absolutely should be a team effort\u2014and the best ones are\u2014it can often feel, as the bid writer, that you are carrying the bulk of the effort. If you have a bid manager, demand regular check-ins, both collectively with the team and in one-to-ones with key contributors like solution subject matter experts, sales, and social value teams. Use technology to keep team dynamics, conversations, and collaboration flowing. In the end, you will often be the one pulling the late-night shifts or working long weekends. But a) it shouldn\u2019t be like that, and b) knowing that the wider team is available e.g when you discover a key sub-bullet question has been missed (it happens!) can make all the difference.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 6. Yours Is a Highly Skilled Profession.<\/span><\/b> Keep reminding both yourself and the world of that fact. Unfortunately, bid writers are not valued as they should be in most companies – and yet, most companies would not exist, or thrive, unless they had writers whose job is to write the responses that score the points that win the contracts! Know your value. Don\u2019t be put in a corner. Demand a fair salary, negotiate for a team bonus for each bid you win, refuse to work back-to-back weekends, late nights, etc. without a break. If the above falls on deaf ears – take your skills elsewhere. It is incredibly difficult to find excellent bid writers, you will always be in demand.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 7. \u201cHell is Other People\u201d.<\/strong> Actually, Hell is the Review Cycle. You have done your best wordsmithing – you have, somehow, managed to create beautiful responses to dreadfully worded questions, and have woven in the examples, evidence, and points of difference that you all agreed on at the start. So, you send your baby out for the world to admire, and you wait for the reviewers to do their worst. The best reviewers have a) read the instructions you\u2019ve issued on how you want feedback given, b) set aside time to do a thorough job, and c) provided feedback that is constructive, precise, and actionable. In 25 years of bidding, I have experienced this only a handful of times. My advice is to treat the reviewers as part of the team. They need clear instructions on how to provide feedback, they need dedicated time, and they need to understand the dependencies on their role. A reviewer coming back late, with unactionable comments (e.g. \u2018too waffly\u2019, \u2018I don\u2019t understand this\u2019, \u2018can you make it more innovative\u2019); is no use to man nor beast. I recommend a thorough briefing to all reviewers in advance. Any that can\u2019t commit to a thorough review within the timelines you need should be stood down.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 8. A Picture Paints a Thousand Words.<\/span><\/b> If the ITT instructions allow, use pictures, diagrams, tables to break up the text and bring your story to life. If the bid budget allows, get a designer in, and decide on the 5-10 killer images that will illustrate your story. These could be your Vision for the future of the service, a graphic to show the User Experience etc.\u00a0 Everyone in your team should know the importance of these images and how they fit into your story. These are not stock images – they are deliberately designed for the story you are telling and the audience you are addressing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They will also have reuse value in the presentations and dialogue sessions you may be asked to attend, and possibly during the early months of the contract if you win it.<\/span> I remember winning a large Government contract once, and as the Delivery team delivered their contract mobilisation roadshows, the key visual used was our \u2018Vision for the Service,\u2019 and was taken from the original bid response. Powerful Stuff.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 9. Scoring Criteria<\/span><\/b>. Understand how your writing is to be evaluated: this is a competition, after all, not a submission for the Booker Prize. Make sure you read and digest the weightings, scores, and criteria for scoring top marks.\u00a0 Ask to see previous bid feedback – especially if it’s available from the same client. All this helps you to tighten your narrative and focus your answers. It is not enough to have the most beautifully written bid, it needs to be the highest scoring bid.\u00a0 My 3-point checklist is:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 10. Win or Lose, this is a Team Result.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Yet in many companies, it is not.\u00a0 Unfair as it may seem, credit is often given to the sales team for a win, while blame often falls to the bid writers for a loss.\u00a0 Many, many factors influence a bid decision award – and some of these are completely out of your hands: price, perceived risk, politics, relationships.\u00a0\u00a0 And yet none of the above – with the exception of price – cannot be scored.\u00a0 Consequently, the Quality response score gets scored down or up, accordingly.\u00a0 It becomes a proxy – it shouldn\u2019t, but it does. This is why a strong qualification is so important: relationships trump bid responses, every time.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In summary,<\/span><\/b> a) be proud of your role, you are a hugely important part of your company\u2019s growth story; b) have fun – bids are complex, thrilling things – you meet many so many people across the company – you deep dive into products and solutions – and that knowledge stays with you for life; c) don\u2019t take the outcome too personally. In the words of Kipling:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you can meet with Triumph and Disaster<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And treat those two imposters just the same\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You\u2019ll be a damn fine bid writer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I started writing bids at the age of 26 for a company called Sema Group. It was a baptism of fire: British Rail had just been privatised and the new Train Operating Companies were releasing a raft of tenders for IT products and services.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1. It Is the Most Ancient of Trades: The Art of the Storyteller.<\/span><\/b> Your role is to weave together disparate elements to craft a compelling, persuasive, and thrilling narrative. One that captures your audience and makes them want more.\u00a0 You are so much more than an \u2018answerer of questions\u2019. (But you\u2019re that, too!)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 <\/span><\/b>No Bid Writer Is an Island: (Unless You\u2019re a One-Person Micro-SME).<\/span><\/b> Bidding is a team sport, and the captain of the team is always\u2014always\u2014the salesperson. They know your audience best, or they should. They understand the client’s requirements, or they should. They know because they have already influenced how the Invitation to Tender (ITT) has been crafted, or at least they should have. If your salesperson knows none of this, your role is likely a futile one. Spend as much time with your sales leads as possible; ultimately, it is their story you are writing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Measure Twice, Cut Once: <\/span><\/b>In a time-pressured bid environment, there is a natural tendency to want to start writing as quickly as possible – and there may be some questions that can be polished off quickly (e.g., \u2018What is your approach to data security?\u2019). But the most important and highest-scoring questions, those that lie at the heart of your story (e.g., \u2018Describe your Service Delivery Model\u2019, \u2018Describe your User Journey\u2019), require your expertise more than any other. With or without word limitations, there is no room for waffle. You need crystal clarity on your solution before putting pen to paper. Half-baked solutions show through in fluffy answers. Demand clarity before you start writing. The Solution Lead is your second-best friend (see point 2 above).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 4. Your Story Has to Be Better Than Someone Else\u2019s Story, Otherwise It Won\u2019t Win.<\/span><\/b> Carefully crafted, precise win themes, points of difference, killer evidence\u2014all these will lift your story and make you stand out. But it\u2019s not your job as the bid writer to come up with these. The sales lead should have been able to articulate ‘why we will win’ when they took the deal through qualification. Your job is to ensure these points flow through the narrative like a golden thread through cloth.<\/span> Be aware though, and despite any leadership statements to the contrary, the following are absolutely, categorically, and most definitely NOT win themes or differentiators:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n These are lazy platitudes and should be treated with the contempt they deserve.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 5. Despite Point 2 Above, Bid Writing is Often Lonely Work.<\/span><\/b> While it absolutely should be a team effort\u2014and the best ones are\u2014it can often feel, as the bid writer, that you are carrying the bulk of the effort. If you have a bid manager, demand regular check-ins, both collectively with the team and in one-to-ones with key contributors like solution subject matter experts, sales, and social value teams. Use technology to keep team dynamics, conversations, and collaboration flowing. In the end, you will often be the one pulling the late-night shifts or working long weekends. But a) it shouldn\u2019t be like that, and b) knowing that the wider team is available e.g when you discover a key sub-bullet question has been missed (it happens!) can make all the difference.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 6. Yours Is a Highly Skilled Profession.<\/span><\/b> Keep reminding both yourself and the world of that fact. Unfortunately, bid writers are not valued as they should be in most companies – and yet, most companies would not exist, or thrive, unless they had writers whose job is to write the responses that score the points that win the contracts! Know your value. Don\u2019t be put in a corner. Demand a fair salary, negotiate for a team bonus for each bid you win, refuse to work back-to-back weekends, late nights, etc. without a break. If the above falls on deaf ears – take your skills elsewhere. It is incredibly difficult to find excellent bid writers, you will always be in demand.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 7. \u201cHell is Other People\u201d.<\/strong> Actually, Hell is the Review Cycle. You have done your best wordsmithing – you have, somehow, managed to create beautiful responses to dreadfully worded questions, and have woven in the examples, evidence, and points of difference that you all agreed on at the start. So, you send your baby out for the world to admire, and you wait for the reviewers to do their worst. The best reviewers have a) read the instructions you\u2019ve issued on how you want feedback given, b) set aside time to do a thorough job, and c) provided feedback that is constructive, precise, and actionable. In 25 years of bidding, I have experienced this only a handful of times. My advice is to treat the reviewers as part of the team. They need clear instructions on how to provide feedback, they need dedicated time, and they need to understand the dependencies on their role. A reviewer coming back late, with unactionable comments (e.g. \u2018too waffly\u2019, \u2018I don\u2019t understand this\u2019, \u2018can you make it more innovative\u2019); is no use to man nor beast. I recommend a thorough briefing to all reviewers in advance. Any that can\u2019t commit to a thorough review within the timelines you need should be stood down.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 8. A Picture Paints a Thousand Words.<\/span><\/b> If the ITT instructions allow, use pictures, diagrams, tables to break up the text and bring your story to life. If the bid budget allows, get a designer in, and decide on the 5-10 killer images that will illustrate your story. These could be your Vision for the future of the service, a graphic to show the User Experience etc.\u00a0 Everyone in your team should know the importance of these images and how they fit into your story. These are not stock images – they are deliberately designed for the story you are telling and the audience you are addressing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They will also have reuse value in the presentations and dialogue sessions you may be asked to attend, and possibly during the early months of the contract if you win it.<\/span> I remember winning a large Government contract once, and as the Delivery team delivered their contract mobilisation roadshows, the key visual used was our \u2018Vision for the Service,\u2019 and was taken from the original bid response. Powerful Stuff.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 9. Scoring Criteria<\/span><\/b>. Understand how your writing is to be evaluated: this is a competition, after all, not a submission for the Booker Prize. Make sure you read and digest the weightings, scores, and criteria for scoring top marks.\u00a0 Ask to see previous bid feedback – especially if it’s available from the same client. All this helps you to tighten your narrative and focus your answers. It is not enough to have the most beautifully written bid, it needs to be the highest scoring bid.\u00a0 My 3-point checklist is:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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Here are the 10 things I wish I\u2019d known when I started out:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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